Petite Chocolate Pochettes

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or butter substitute at room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese or tofu cream cheese at room temperature
2 cups flour or gluten free flour
Nutella or a chocolate nut butter spread
Confectioner's sugar

1. In medium bowl, using a hand mixer, cream the butter and cream cheese together until light and creamy. Add the flour slowly until the dough forms. Do not over-mix! Let dough rest in refrigerator for an hour or until firm.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Using a 3 inch fluted biscuit cutter, cut out as many circles as you can. Form the scraps into a ball and reroll to make more circles.

3. Fill each dough circle with a small spoonful of the chocolate hazelnut spread. Dip your finger in tap water and spread on the edge of half the circle to help create a seal. Fold the dough over to create a crescent. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Cool, then sift the confectioner's sugar on top and serve.

**Adapted from Food Network's Melissa d'Arabian

Grilled Steak and Vegetables

Ingredients:
T-Bone Steak
Worcestershire
Siracha Chili Sauce
Salt and Pepper
Cumin
Canola Oil

Assorted Chopped Vegetables

Preheat grill.

Salt and pepper the steaks, sprinkle with cumin. Pour about two tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce and then a few dashes of chili sauce. Repeat on the flip sides. Rub with canola oil.

Chop vegetables and season with salt and pepper. Place vegetables in grill basket. I used brusselsprouts, zucchini and yellow squash today.

Grill steaks about 4-5 minutes on each side. Grill vegetables about 6-7 minutes on each side.

Enjoy the meal outside on a beautiful day with a good friend or spouse!

Baked Thyme Crusted Tofu

Ingredients:

vinaigrette (recipe follows)
12 oz extra firm tofu
1 cup gluten free corn breadcrumbs
2 Tbsp thyme

For the vinaigrette marinade, you can use any vinaigrette that you enjoy, this is just the one I made up and really like the flavors of. I used about 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar, 2 pressed cloves of garlic, zest of one lime, juice of one lemon, about a third to a half cup of olive oil and salt and pepper. I mixed this in the dish I was using to marinate the tofu, and added the tofu in. Let your tofu marinade for at least a few hours.

To prepare the tofu, slice it into about half-inch thick slices. Line a two-inch deep pan with a clean dish towel and set the tofu in one layer on the towel. Wrap the towel over the tofu. Place two canned goods on top of the towel-wrapped tofu and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight to get rid of all the extra water. In the morning, the tofu should be quite dry.

Prepare the marinade in that same dish, remove the tofu from the towel, and place it into the marinade and back into the refrigerator for at least a few hours.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place a cooling rack on a baking sheet.

Combine 2 tablespoons thyme and gluten free breadcrumbs in a small dish.

Coat each slice of tofu with the thyme breadcrumb mixture then place on the baking sheet with cooling rack.

Bake for 20-30 minutes, until breadcrumbs are golden brown, but not burnt.

Serve with a salad or roasted vegetables and brown rice or baked yams.

Recipe adapted from Hana Abdulaziz Feeney, RD
http://nourishingresults.com/

Guinataan - Sweet Filipino Dessert

Ingredients:
* I find all of my Asian ingredients at the local Oriental Market (Lee Lee's on Orange Grove and LaCholla for those of you Tucson followers).
1 sweet potato (I used a Japanese sweet potato)
2 bananas
1/2 taro (this is a root vegetable that is white with purple strings running through it)
1 jar tapioca pearls (in this recipe, mine are green; they don't have to be the green ones)
Jackfruit, canned, drained, sliced
2 cans coconut milks plus one can water
1/3 cup sugar (or less, to taste)
I also added one capfull of coconut extract at the end to really emphasize the coconut flavor. You could also try vanilla extract, or no extract.

Directions:
1. Cube sweet potato, bananas, and taro.
2. Boil sweet potato and taro in two cans coconut milk and water for twenty minutes on medium heat.
3. Add tapioca pearls, banana, and jackfruit and cook another 7 minutes low heat.

4. Allow to cool and serve chilled.

Potato Pancakes (Latke)

Ingredients:
Potatoes, grated
Onion, grated
One egg or egg replacement
Salt and Pepper
Oil, for frying

Directions:
1. Grate the potatoes and onions.
2. Place them into a cheesecloth or thin dish towel, squeeze all the excess liquid out of them.
3. Mix in one beaten egg and salt and pepper.
4. Heat oil in frying pan. Form pancakes and place in hot oil.
5. Cook 1-3 minutes on each side until golden brown.

6. Serve hot and tasty!

Fresh Summer Lumpias

I learned this recipe from my father-in-law who is a retired chef and a native Filipino! This would be a perfect lunch on the go, especially on a summer day. You can fill the lumpias with ANY ingredients. This is a method, not a recipe.

Ingredients:
Rice Paper or Tapioca Sheets
Cooked Chicken, Shrimp or both, thinly sliced
Green leaf lettuce
Daikon Raddish, julienned
Cucumber, julienned
Carrots, jullienned
Avocado, sliced
Garlic, thinly sliced
Fresh mint or basil
Peanuts, Almonds, or Walnuts, chopped
Soy Sauce, Oyster Sauce, and/or Thai Chili Garlic Paste (for dipping)

Directions:
1. Soak the rice paper or tapioca sheets in water to soften.
2. Lay the sheet on a plate. Place the lettuce down on one side, followed by all other toppings except for dipping sauce.
3. Roll up the sheet into an egg roll-type wrap.

4. Set aside to dry slightly.
5. Serve cold with dipping sauces.

Chocolate Crinkles

Ingredients:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 squares (4 oz) unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 cups granulated sugar
4 egg replacements
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups Bob's Red Mill Baking Mix
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup confectioner's sugar

Directions:
1. Mix oil, chocolate, and granulated sugar.
2. Blend in one egg at a time until smooth.

3. Add vanilla.
4. Stir flour, baking powder and salt into oil mixture.

5. Chill several hours or overnight.

6. Heat oven to 350.
7. Drop tsp of dough into confectioner's sugar. Roll in sugar, shape into balls.
8. Place about 2 inches apart on greased baking sheet.

9. Bake 10-12 minutes.
DO NOT OVERBAKE

As you can see, some of the sugar stayed visible, but much of it baked in. My dough was a little too wet. I'm not sure if that was because of my ingredient replacements either with the flour or the egg replacements, which are very liquidy. You may want to add another 1/4 to 1/3 cup flour to see if you can get the powdered sugar to stay on the outside of the cookie.